Southern Ocean

Two centuries after the Belgica expedition became the first to survive a winter in Antarctica, Saildrone launched the first autonomous circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean.

The Saildrone Antarctic Circumnavigation, in partnership with the Li Ka Shing Foundation, is the first autonomous circumnavigation of this remote region.

The first autonomous circumnavigation of Antarctica provides an unprecedented opportunity to bring this remote marine environment to the classroom.

Three Saildrone USVs launched from Bluff, NZ, January 2019. Their mission: the first autonomous circumnavigation of Antarctica.

Today we are announcing an important development: Sending our first fleet of saildrones into the Southern Ocean, in partnership with CSIRO, Australia’s pre-eminent national science organization.